Witness History

In 1946, Mexican American Raoul Cortez launched the first US radio service in Spanish. Based in San Antonio, Texas, he used charm and creativity to win over advertisers in a time when Hispanic consumers weren't seen as a relevant market.

Raoul's grandson Guillermo Nicolas spoke to Stefania Gozzer about the challenges his grandfather faced to push forward in building a pioneering business that would turn him into a broadcasting mogul...

In 1955, Rosa Parks made civil rights history in the US when she refused to give up her seat on the bus.

Segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama, meant that when a bus was full, black passengers had to stand and give up their seat to white passengers.

Her subsequent arrest sparked a boycott of the city's buses by the African American population.

Led by Dr Martin Luther King, the protest became one of the most significant campaigns of ...

In September 1997, the remains of a Native American chief were returned to the United States, more than a century after his death in England.

Chief Long Wolf, a Lakota leader, died in 1892 while touring with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.

His family knew he had been buried in London, but they didn't know where, until a British woman came across his story in a second‑hand book.

Following an exhumation, he was finally returned to...

On 18 March 1959, Hawaii was brought into the United States of America as the 50th state with the passing of the Hawaiian Admission act.

Five months later, on 21 August it was officially proclaimed the 50th state by President Eisenhower.

Former governor of Hawaii, John Waihe'e, tells Jen Dale his memories of statehood and why Hawaii's history with America means it has become a divisive issue.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by ar...

For more than 25 years, Rata de dos patas has been one of Mexico’s most recognisable - and unusual - songs. A relentless string of insults, it was made famous by the singer Paquita la del Barrio.

Composer Manuel Eduardo Toscano recalls the moment in 2000 that convinced him the song was right for Paquita, and reveals how it almost never saw the light of day. He speaks to Helen Ledwick about the song's true inspiration and how ...

In July 1916, Britain led an Allied offensive against German positions on the Western Front near the Somme river in France. The British army suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day. By the end of the battle in November, one million men had been killed or wounded. The Somme became synonymous with the horrors of war.

We hear BBC archive recordings of veterans who fought in one of the bloodiest battles in history.

This programme, f...

In 1981, Australia launched a fight against skin cancer with help from a yellow cartoon seagull and a catchy jingle.

The Slip Slop Slap campaign was created by an advertising team of Phillip Adams, Peter Best and Alex Stitt. The three men gave their services for free to help the Cancer Council Victoria charity spread the message.

Soon, Australians began to slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat in response to a warning...

In June 2016, voters in the UK were asked whether they wanted to remain in the European Union or leave. It was a decision that would divide the country and reshape relations with its closest neighbours.

As the result emerged overnight, Rory Montgomery was one of the officials responsible for preparing Ireland's response.

The former diplomat remembers watching the night unfold from Dublin and tells Helen Ledwick why it mattered so muc...

It's 10 years since a Hong Kong bookseller who was detained for selling material critical of China’s leaders, was released and went public.

In 2015, Lam Wing-kee and four other men who published and sold books went missing. The case of the booksellers raised international concerns that Hong Kong's judicial independence and freedom of speech were being eroded. Protests followed.

On 21 June 2016, Mr Lam was released after eight ...

In 1975, a mysterious outbreak of illness struck children in the United States, triggering a medical breakthrough. Prof Allen Steere uncovered a bacterial infection which was spread by blood‑sucking ticks. It was formally identified for the first time and would go on to be named Lyme disease, after the town where it first emerged. He speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about what led to the discovery.

Eye-witness accounts brought to ...

On 26 February 1974, geologist Dr Jim Bowler discovered a 42,000-year-old skeleton in New South Wales, Australia.

The remains were nicknamed Mungo Man, as they were found in Lake Mungo.

The discovery rewrote Australia's history, it proved Aboriginal Australians had occupied the continent for tens of thousands of years.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Dr Bowler about Mungo Man's original cremation with ochre and his secret reburial in 2022.

Ey...

In June 1987, hundreds of women walked towards a ceasefire line that had divided Cyprus since 1974.

The island was split after a coup backed by Greece and a subsequent Turkish military intervention, which left thousands displaced on both sides.

Many of the women were Greek Cypriots who had fled their homes in the north during the conflict.

They hoped their peace walk would draw international attention to the island’s division...

Half a century ago, an event took place that shook the apartheid regime in South Africa to its foundations - the Soweto Uprising.

It began with a demonstration by schoolchildren against being taught in Afrikaans.

The government met the protesters with brutal force, and the ensuing violence shocked the world.

In 2010, Alan Johnston spoke to one of those former schoolgirls, Bongi Mhkabela, about that pivotal moment.

Eye-witness accounts ...

In 1993, separatist forces took Sukhumi, the capital of the former Soviet territory of Abkhazia.

As Georgian authorities lost control of the region, more than 200,000 people were forced to flee.

Many had no choice but to cross the Caucasus Mountains on foot, and hundreds are believed to have died along the way.

Georgian writer Guram Odisharia speaks to Stefania Gozzer about his harrowing escape from Abkhazia and the heartbreaking sc...

In 1970, King Hussein of Jordan survived after gunmen opened fire on his motorcade close to his summer palace. The king remained unharmed, but his driver was wounded. It wasn’t the king’s first near-miss.

Before being crowned, Hussein survived another attempt when his grandfather, King Abdullah, was assassinated by a Palestinian gunman in 1951. Hussein was saved when a medal deflected a stray bullet. And there were othe...

In 1897, Paul Shishkoff was 10 years old and living with his family in rural Russia.

It was there he met the great Russian playwright, Anton Chekhov, who was resting after the end of Moscow's theatre season.

During the long, hot summer, Paul became friends with Chekhov - accompanying him on rambles and fishing expeditions.

In 1938, Paul spoke to the BBC about their friendship and how his family became the inspiration for one of Chek...

In the summer of 1937, some of the 20th Century's most famous artists, writers and photographers were holidaying in the south of France.

They included artist Pablo Picasso, photographer Lee Miller, poet Paul Éluard and the painter Man Ray.

The group were part of the Surrealist movement – a style of art inspired by dreams and hidden thoughts that can look strange and bizarre - and one of their most recent converts was artist Ei...

In 1978, Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists in history, was stripped of his Soviet citizenship for engaging in 'unpatriotic activity'.

Rostropovich’s fallout with the Soviet leadership was precipitated by his decision to let the dissident writer, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, stay in his house. Joe Schultz tells his story using BBC archive.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for thos...

On 13 June 1964, Nelson Mandela, who later became South Africa's president, was taken to the maximum security prison on Robben Island off the coast of South Africa.

Mandela had led the military wing of the African National Congress party which was banned by the apartheid government.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent 18 years on the island before being transferred to prison on the mainland.

He was freed on 11 February 199...